Yoshi's Island
by Koopakrazy85
Summary: A retelling of the story of Yoshi's Island, there's really not much more to say...
1. Chapter 1

Thump... Thump... Thump... The sound of the basketball against the concrete wall echoed in the cold and empty room. The owner of the bouncing basketball, an infantile prince, sat and sighed as he pushed the ball away and again awaited its return. He caught it, and held it firm in his claws, then stretched and swiveled around to view the room. A large, cobwebbed and dusty throne sat opposite the child, as still as him. He looked over it - surely once this was a marvelous thing. The prince looked beyond its dusty, cobwebbed and faded surface to imagine what it had been. Shiny and golden, with purple cushions, he could see the seat. Surrounded by a fantastically luxurious room hosting a fine King not unlike what he would become, surrounded by happy and loyal subjects. But he could picture no more. He snapped back to reality, echoes of joyous laughter rung in his ears, still lingering from past memories. The King - his father - he hadn't a single memory of him. Suddenly, the door creaked, startling the baby prince. He turned his attention to the black shadow lurking in the doorway, blocking the light from the hall. The silhouette bowed before the prince, and spoke in a gentle voice.

"Prince Bowser, I've been looking for you, I haven't seen you all day. What troubles you?" Little Bowser lowered his head, a silent tear fell to the floor.

"Papa Kamek... What was my real daddy like?" The baby's face rose to meet its guardian, Kamek hesitated. "My boy," He drew a deep breath. "There's a great deal I must explain to you. Come."


	2. Chapter 2

Bowser grasped Kamek's gentle hand and they wandered down the hall, side by side. After a long, powerful silence, Kamek stopped and knelt to look the baby prince in his dark and lonely eyes.

"Bowser, your father Morton was the best king Darkland has ever had. He was as kind and loyal to his subjects as they were to him, and he cared for everyone no matter how seemingly unimportant. He was the heart of our thriving land, and everyone felt safe with him in charge." Bowser pondered over this for a moment.

"So he was a good king," Kamek nodded; this he believed most strongly. "Was he a good daddy, too?" The wizard could even hear the pain in his master's voice, the longing for his father. "For all the 12 months you two were together, he never left your side. He always played the most wonderful games with you, and took you to the market every week." Bowser smiled. Kamek smiled. "And he was always talking about how you were going to be a truly great king one day, and protect your kingdom, and that he would always be proud of what you would become."

Kamek's eyes watered and he rubbed his face in his sleeve. Recovering from his overwhelming emotions, he straightened up and looked back to Bowser, who was now smiling warmly, tears collecting in his eyes as well. "Your dad was the best in the world, and he loved you more than anything he knew." Bowser was unable to hold his newly found joy, he felt it so much that he couldn't stay still any longer. He leapt up and squeezed Kamek as hard as he could, and Kamek hugged back. All the pain in the world seemed to vanish for those few magic moments. And finally as they released, Bowser looked up and got to his feet, keeping his eyes on his friend the whole time.

Still smiling, he said: "Then I'll be a good king... For both of my papas." With those words Kamek's heart leapt, and little Bowser, still smiling, withdrew to the end of the hall. Long after the boy had left, Kamek remained on his knees, cherishing the moment passed.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, far from Kamek's domain, a large clan of yoshi made their home on a grassy plane at the edge of a forest. They all dozed blissfully in the warm sunlight, sprawled out over the cool, dew coated ground. The yoshi lived a peaceful and carefree life, beginning the day in late morning and returning to their clearing well before nightfall. The first to rise on this pleasant morning was a light blue yoshi bearing the name Finn.

He stretched and rolled onto his back, opening his eyes to allow them to focus. He rubbed them and sat up, still mildly dazed. Eventually though clumsily he made it to his feet, and stumbled toward the nearby creek. Finn could hear the ceaseless gushing of water like a flock of chattering birds. He lowered his hand into the shocking cold current, feeling its force playfully push against his own, and flicked a handful of refreshing cold water onto his face. He lay down on the bank, watching the clouds, enjoying the breeze running over his still-damp nose. He liked this place - it let him think, it let his mind wander to wherever it felt it could, totally uninterrupted. The little dinosaur lay there, feet dipping into the cool stream as he enjoyed the tranquil riverbank, with no one to bother him.

"Hey, Finny!" Called a bright red yoshi from atop the riverbank. Finn snapped out of his trance and smiled. Such is life. He chuckled to himself, before raising his voice to call back. "I'm coming, Archie!" And with that, he dashed up the slope to join his friend.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, far from Kamek s domain, a large clan of yoshi made their home on a grassy plane at the edge of a forest. They all dozed blissfully in the warm sunlight, sprawled out over the cool, dew coated ground. The yoshi lived a peaceful and carefree life, beginning the day in late morning and returning to their clearing well before nightfall. The first to rise on this pleasant morning was a light blue yoshi bearing the name Finn. He stretched and rolled onto his back, opening his eyes to allow them to focus. He rubbed them and sat up, still mildly dazed. Eventually though clumsily he made it to his feet, and stumbled toward the nearby creek. Finn could hear the ceaseless gushing of water like a flock of chattering birds. He lowered his hand into the shocking cold current, feeling its force playfully push against his own, and flicked a handful of refreshing cold water onto his face. He lay down on the bank, watching the clouds, enjoying the breeze running over his still-damp nose. He liked this place, it let him think, it let his mind wander to wherever it felt it could totally uninterrupted. The little dinosaur lay there, feet dipping into the cool stream as he enjoyed the tranquil riverbank, with no one to bother him Hey, Finny! Called a bright red yoshi from atop the riverbank. Finn snapped out of his trance and smiled. Such is life. He chuckled to himself, before raising his voice to call back: I m coming, Archie! And with that, he dashed up the slope to join his friend. 


	5. Chapter 5

That morning, back and Kamek's castle, Bowser was sitting on the floor of Kamek's study, practicing a spell that he had been taught. The spell took a lot of concentration, and soon the young koopa grew weary of the task. "Papa," he moaned, "I'm bored - I wanna do something fun."

The old wizard, who was scribbling away busily at a piece of parchment, paused in his writing. "Then go and play with your ball." He muttered, without turning to face the child.

"But that's no fun." Bowser grunted stubbornly. "Well, how about playing outside? You've got all of that wonderful garden around the castle and you can't think of anything better to do than to sit and complain here?"

"No, that's not fun either - I wanna do something with you, Pa." Kamek packed his work away, looking tired. He left his chair and stood facing the boy. "Okay, little prince, what do you want to do, then?" The baby did not speak, he simply let his eyes drift across the small study, the cramped room was stuffed with messy-looking books, full of papers with badly organised notes.

Through the clutter of desks and drawers, one thing stood out: a glittering crystal ball. His black, beady little eyes reflected the lively, exciting display of swirling colours. It had the odd effect of entrancing him, and he swayed slightly as he marvelled at the wondrous light show. Kamek, noting this, retrieved the orb from its place on the dusty shelf and placed it gently on the floor, before kneeling opposite the now stunned little boy. Bowser slowly swept a claw over the smooth, cool surface, barely touching it. Though cold as stone, it gave off a glow as warm as fire. His arm retracted and he gasped in awe.

"A crystal ball," Kamek explained in a low voice, "Is an astonishing piece of magical craftsmanship - it can show you the present and past of any realm, whether of this world or another - and can even predict future events." The child continued gaping, his focus entirely centered upon the mysterious opening and closing his mouth a few times, he finally found words.

"I-it can show me... the future?" "It can predict." Kamek said shortly, correcting Bowser slightly. "Yes, it can show you what your future is most likely to be... If you would like it to do so, I will assist."

Bowser, still awestruck, nodded dumbly. The wizard bowed his head. "Very well, my prince. Though you must know first that the future is not in fact set - we are each to fulfil our own destinies, regardless of what we are told. And if you do wish to change the future, you must alter things now - understand?" Bowser continued to stare into the magical light of the ball.

"Yes," he spoke quietly, but definitively. "I understand, Kamek."


	6. Chapter 6

As the two Yoshies wandered through the woods in search of breakfast, Finn seemed a little distracted. Archie, who didn't really care, soon spotted a berry bush and eagerly headed over to it. Finn absent-mindedly followed his hungry friend to the bush and lay on the ground, staring straight up at the sky. After some minutes, Archie finally noticed Finn's odd behaviour.

"Dude, you're not eating - what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing." Finn sighed airily, "Just not hungry this morning..."

The red yoshi raised his brow; something was quite clearly not right. "Look," Finn said, who had anticipated that Archie wouldn't buy this. "I've just been thinking a lot lately, y'know?"

Archie rolled his eyes "What's knew?" he asked with an almost harsh sarcasm. Finn stopped focusing on the clouds above and sat up to face his friend, who tossed him a handful of berries. "Finny, buddy, you really gotta stop thinking so much, asking so many questions, sticking your nose in stuff that it shouldn't be in - you're worrying yourself too much with things that really don't matter."

"Yeah..." he contemplated, chewing a berry. "Maybe you're right, but-" Archie shot him a look.

"Do me a favour, will ya? No more talking until after breakfast." Finn continued gnawing at his berries, silent, but still thoughtful. Soon however, his attention was dragged back up to the sky.

"What are you even looking at?" Archie queried, annoyed again. "Clouds really aren't that interesting, are they?" Finn pointed up, directing his friend's sights toward two figures, way up in the sky. they appeared to be struggling - quite violently, Finn thought - over something important. "What do you think they're fighting over?" Finn wondered aloud, talking more to himself than his friend. "Who cares?" Archie yawned as he got up. "Whatever it is, it's not our problem."


	7. Chapter 7

"How would you know?" Finn asked in an inquisitive tone, becoming slightly excited - he was going to start messing with Archie and they both knew it. "How do you know that whatever that is-" He pointed upward, "-won't determine our very way of life in the near future? How can you, of all beings on this island, be so sure? If it's on our land, we have something to do with it."

Archie rolled his eyes, which at that point caught site of the lone figure in the sky, now dazed and disoriented. The fight had ended. Whatever they were fighting over was gone - but then Archie noted something else amongst the peaceful, fluffy clouds something that did not fit into the peaceful or fluffy categories. In fact, it was rather unsettling to view. A white, round package was falling at a considerable speed, from a considerable height, toward the two yoshis. Archie flailed his arms wildly with alarm.

"Okay, I take it back! Whatever-it-is is important now - it's gonna kill us if we don't get outta the way!" Archie dived under a bush a few feet from the expected landing point of the strange object. He looked back to Finn, about to motion him to do the same, but saw him darting about with his arms outstretched, preparing to receive the item.

"You moron! What in the Mushroom Kingdom do you think you're doing?" Archie screamed at his foolish friend. "I'm going to catch it!" Finn panted, "It might be important! Why else would they have been fighting so fiercely over it? Come help me out, Arch!"

Archie considered it for a moment, then he agreed that it was the right thing to do. He dashed out and tried to get under the package but this was a difficult judgement to make. The two dashed madly back and forth, concentrating on the unfamiliar prize, trying to avoid staring into the sun at the same time. Amidst the hectic confusion, Finn's face managed to meet with a tree. Seconds later, Archie's face managed to meet with Finn.

"YEOWCH!"

The pair simultaneously yelped out with immense pain, and fell to the ground in a heap. Massaging their sorely misshapen snouts, they groaned softly in a weak attempt to get back up. "Ugh, my head." Finn moaned, once he could finally stand - then he looked over to his friend and helped him to restore his balance, too. Once assured of each other's safety, they hugged one another with relief, the package completely forgotten... until they both heard it land in the bushes with a solid thud and violent crunch of branches. This shocking and discomforting sound, however, had soon been replaced with the ear-splitting wail that soon followed.

The air was filled with an unbearable outburst of painful crying, emitting from the now squirming package. Finn clapped his hands over his throbbing ears, "What is that that THING?" he bellowed, trying to get above the noise. "How would I have any idea?" Archie roared back, his ears also covered, "Just get it to stop!"

Finn bolted over to the bush in which the odd thing lay, and quickly scooped it up into his arms, fumbling it clumsily. Unable to think of anything else to do, he instinctively began to rock himself from foot to foot - this being a nervous habit - and as he did, the crying slowly subsided into an inaudible whimper. Assuming that the odd something had to be alive - and rather unhappy about its current situation - he thought the only thing to do was to remove the wrappings and free the thing.

What was revealed surprised him; some odd, pink creature. It had another white wrapping over part of its body, a large nose, and something red covering its head and face. Finn gently lifted the red thing to see a puzzled, awestruck face to which he returned an equally puzzled and awestruck expression. Though unlike anything he had ever seen, and somewhat unsettling, the thing had a certain charm to it, and Finn couldn't help but smile - it was kinda cute... for a weird alien thing. He looked over his shoulder to find Archie awkwardly staring, waiting for Finn to say something, to explain what the thing was. Reading his clueless expression, Finn hesitantly smiled. "It's uh... I think it s friendly."


	8. Chapter 8

Archie wasn't listening, he was blankly staring at the thing Finn was holding, not knowing what to think of it. He couldn't understand what the hell it was, it was like nothing he had seen or heard of. He slowly started to move closer to it, his feelings of curiosity finally becoming stronger than that of his surprise. Finally within reach of it, he slowly reached out to prod at it, wondering all the while what in the world it was. Though it had fallen hard, it was seemingly undeterred. It showed no signs of discomfort in fact it was clearly very awake and aware of its surroundings. Its wide eyes swept the entire landscape, its head flicked back and forth whenever something new moved. It settled its view on Archie, looking incredibly surprised. Archie looked up to Finn, and the alien mimicked the movement. Both yoshis gazed in amazement at the pink thing as its curious attention switched between the two dinosaurs. Finn got the feeling that it knew no more, if less, than they did about what had just happened.

"You know," He began, "This... whatever-it-is... it's probably young, maybe still an infant." Archie nodded, blinking slightly as he settled back into reality. "Actually, yeah it doesn't look like it knows this place, I don't think it s ever seen a Yoshi before... reckon he's from another land?"

"It's a possibility." Finn contemplated. "But if it were any older - even a child, it would have probably... kinda reacted more, y'know?" "Yeah, yeah." Archie started to zone back out, but stopped himself quickly. "So what do we do with him?" Finn thought about this, swaying from foot to foot again. "Well, from the looks of the little guy, he can't defend himself, and he's clearly got no clue what's going on - if we left him here he'd probably die."

"Finn, you can't seriously be thinking-"

"-I am." Finn said definitively.

"Could you leave a baby out alone? He wouldn't last half the day without our help." "And we're just so prepared to take care of him, right?" Archie mocked. "We know exactly what he is, what he eats, what he needs to learn to survive - we could easily care for him just as well as one of his own could!" Finn gave Archie a cold look. "It's not a good plan, but it's better than the alternative. We can try, Arch. We have to try." He looked down at the baby, smiling at it. It smiled back and giggled. Archie sighed, Finn was right. "So we just gonna take the little tyke back to the clan and raise it? What are we doing?" Finn began to worry at the thought of returning to the clan with a strange animal, many of their fellows would be threatened by it, and they could be ostracized by the group, which is a dangerous way to be for a yoshi. "No, we'll hang out in the forest for a few days and we'll find out where we need to go from there." "Finn..." Archie was terribly concerned about leaving their tribe - unlike Finn, he was very social and reliant on the group. "Archie, I need you on this one, please? Buddy?" He held out a fist, his friend reluctantly returned the gesture and they proceeded to fist-bomb - a unique sign of their friendship. "We cool, dude?" Finn asked, concerned for his friend. "Yeah, bro, we're cool."


	9. Chapter 9

Kamek silently zoomed through the clear, blue sky, the warm breeze slowly cooling as he arrived on the darker side of the island where his castle loomed. He touched down at the entrance to see Bowser waiting eagerly. He dismounted his broom and held aloft the white sack before the baby. "Your prisoners, my prince." The wizard announced. Bowser nodded in acknowledgement, "We'll take them to the cell." He and Kamek walked around the castle to the back, where the door to a dungeon was already open and waiting to welcome its new inhabitants. Kamek put the package on the floor and untied the knot hastily, Bowser leant over to see his enemies. A baby, one with a striking resemblance to the one whom Finn and Archie had found, appeared from beneath the cloth. It wore a green hat, just like the other baby's red one, but had a longer face. It looked up at the two koopas first with surprise, but soon Bowser's angry face made the child hesitate, it knew something was apparently wrong.

"Kamek," Bowser began blankly, "Where's the red one?" Kamek continued to stare at the baby.

"Er, I don't know, young Bowser, I could have sworn it was in the same bag as this one... perhaps it was dropped when I tried to take this one from its stork."

Bowser blinked. "So where would it be?"

Kamek thought back to the event. "Well, I would say it landed somewhere on the island, but it probably died from the impact with the ground."

"I can't trust that, we should search for it just in case."

"I shall dispatch my Toadies at once, sir."

With this, the two left the child alone in the dark, wet cell. Once upstairs, Bowser returned to his room and sat up on the bed, feeling concerned. What if they could not find the baby? What if he had survived? He would not let that happen. The child lay down, his head whizzing with thoughts about the babies, about the men they could become: he had to change things now in order to ensure his future.

Kamek stood before a line of his best troops, pacing back and forth atop the highest tower of his castle. "Now, we're looking for a human baby, his only distinguishing features are a large red hat and big nose. Scour the island for him, he must be brought back here alive for the Prince - keep a lookout for any odd sights or sounds." "Yessir!" They all shouted in unison, Kamek smiled. "Excellent - now get out there, let's hope to catch him before nightfall." Without another word, the Toadies propeller caps started up and they took off, disappearing over the horizon. Kamek watched them systematically spread out to search the island in small teams. He had faith that they would locate him soon.


	10. Chapter 10

Finn placed the baby down on the grass and sat by him, Archie followed his friend's motion. "So," Archie started, "I guess we'd better just chill here for now we can find a cave or something later." Finn nodded, "Well, this'll be interesting, right? A brand new adventure." "Yeah, I guess..." The red yoshi sighed. Finn looked down to the baby, now playing with the lower leaves of a bush. "I still can't help but wonder why he's here..." The blue dinosaur drifted off into his own world. "He's so... different - where did he come from?" "Wonder what he even is..." Archie added fairly bluntly, still soaking up the shock of the past few minutes." Finn snapped out of his daze to catch the infant chewing the leaves off the bush, he quickly scooped the kid up and tried to remove the vegetation from its mouth. "Hold it there, little bud - that stuff doesn't taste very nice." Finn managed to get most of the leaves out, wiping his saliva-ridden finger on the grass and setting the child in his lap. "He must be hungry." "Well, that makes two of us! Maybe he's not as different as we thought! C'mon, let's find some berries and somewhere to sleep." Archie stood up and began walking, Finn followed, cradling the baby in his arms.

Soon enough, the group stumbled across a large, hollowed-out tree. "This'll do for now." Finn said, "Look there's some berry bushes and apple trees just here, too, plus it's by the river." Archie flicked out his tongue to grab an apple off of the tree, pulling it off the branch and swallowing it whole. "Finn did the same, but instead of eating it, he dropped it into his hand and placed it in front of the baby." The baby took it in both hands and put it to his mouth, but it wouldn't fit. Archie stopped to observe this. "Hmm, might need something smaller?" Finn took the apple back and went down to the berry bush, picking on of the fruits and again handing it to the child. He again took it, and again tried to put it in his mouth - the berry was too big, as well, but the baby pressed down on the berry with his one tooth, and the skin broke, letting juice dribble all over him. "Great," Finn rolled his eyes, "Now you're all sticky." Archie tapped his shoulder and pointed at the baby. Finn looked back to see the child happily eating away at the berry. "Well now we know what he can eat." Archie smiled, "Though we might wanna clean him up." "You go ahead and do that, then: I want something to eat."


	11. Chapter 11

Archie left Finn behind and carried the baby down to the river. He walked upstream a bit to a pool with a slower, safer flow, before sitting the kid in the water and beginning to splash him to wash the juice off. The baby made loud, pained noises in objection, and began to squirm, so Archie lifted him out again. "I know it's cold, little guy." He said, looking the baby in the eye. "If you weren't such a messy eater I wouldn't have to do this... but, it looks like you've got most of the juice off already, I'll let you wipe the rest of it off on the grass." He sat the thing down near the side of the water and watched it. It simply stared up at him expectantly. "What?" He asked, "Look, look at all this soft grass, have a crawl around in it." Archie grabbed at the grass, trying to communicate with the baby, the baby copied his action and smiled at the way the grass lazily flopped from side to side. "C'mon, dude." The dinosaur got onto all fours and clumsily started to move back toward the tree hollow, he turned his head to look back at the baby. "Let's go!" The curious child put his hands on the ground and started to crawl up to Archie, finally reaching him, he smiled. Archie smiled back and wagged his tail playfully, he began to speed up and bounce a little as he continued to lead the baby back. The baby giggled with joy and followed suit, trying to keep up.

Archie managed to get the child all the way back to the tree. He laid on his front in the grass, grinning at Finn who was sitting in the tree trunk. The small child stayed on all fours, also looking up at Finn. "This dude's funny - come and play with him!" Archie demonstrated the game to his friend, darting left and right on all fours, watching the baby try to imitate him - he soon lost balance, however, and fell onto his back. Archie dove toward the kid and broke into a roll, landing on his back next to him. The kid looked over to Archie and laughed. Finn chuckled. "Wow, is that cute or what?" He said, looking down at the happy baby. The two played with the baby for hours - crawling through the long grass, exploring inside the shadows of the tree hollow and hiding in the berry bushes until dusk began to fall. The baby sat up and began yawning, it still wanted to play, but both of the yoshis knew it was time for bed. Carrying the drowsy child, the friends lay inside the tree, snuggling up to eachother - keeping the infant in between the two of them to keep him warm. Archie fell asleep quickly, tired from the events of the day past. Finn remained awake, just thinking, waiting for the stars to come out fully, as he always did before sleeping - but this time his eyelids fell before the sky was dark enough.


	12. Chapter 12

The dawn of a new day sprinkled light over the slumbering trio, awakening birds and their songs. As the air warmed, the young baby was the first awake, but soon stirred the others, eager to begin the day. Morning meant breakfast, so Archie had no gripes with the early rise, and Finn always found that his head was clearest at the start of the day. The dinosaurs sat by their tree, eating apples from the branches as they left the infant to feed himself some yards away. The boy had soon learned that with caution, he could eat a berry without coating himself in it though he had to lick his hands clean afterwards.

It was at about this time that a patrol of Kamek's toadies drifted airily over the very same lands. Though they were tired and unconcentrated, one instantly noted the baby out on his own, and alerted the leader. The party touched down near the baby, attracting his attention. Their shadows cast over him eerily, and he seemed to sense that they were unfriendly. The leader spoke in a soft, croaky voice. "Hello there, little one, we've orders to return you to your brother." He smiled grimly. One scout advanced from behind the group, and attempted to apprehend the child, but as soon as he lowered a claw to him, he started to cry. This inevitably caught the attention of the nearby yoshis, who turned to see the strange fellow wrestle the defiant child into his arms, and take off, followed by the rest of the patrol. Finn instantly jumped up, followed by Archie, to confront the airborn scouts.

"Oi! What are you doing with our little buddy?" He snarled, the group stopped and the leader spoke in response. "The pink thing comes with us! This child is to be taken back to Prince Bowser's castle where he and his sibling shall be disposed of!"

"Not a chance," Archie called from below, "That's our pink thing, if you don't mind! He'll be staying with us!"

The leader of the party scoffed, "I'd like to see you catch us, fools!" With these words, the group started departing, carrying the screaming baby off. "NO!" Finn shouted. He bolted after the group, Archie hot on his heels, before arriving at a cliff face that dropped steep for a few metres. He looked left and right frantically. No path. Nothing. He couldn t get any closer. A risky idea struck him - he flipped his tongue out, aiming at the Toady that was carrying the baby. But he succeeded in only downing the creature rather than retrieving it. The minion spiraled out of control and landed on the ground at the foot of the cliff, still holding the baby. Without thinking, Finn leapt down to retrieve him. The other scouts landed and Archie slid unsteadily down the rock face to join his friend. The now injured Toady coughed and dragged his feet back under him, becoming more or less vertical again. The leader stepped forward and looked up at the blue Yoshi, who was considerably taller than him. His toothy frown curled unpleasantly and his lips quivered. "You... You don't understand... We need this child, he and his brother must be destroyed." Finn glared with discontempt. "You're not destroying anyone." The group closed in on Finn, but before they could appear even the least bit fierce, Archie backed up behind his friend - they wouldn't mess with two yoshis, for peace-loving animals, they would defend what they cared for with terrible ferocity, and there weren't enough troops to take two out. "We'll be back for that pink pest." The scout said angrily, spitting on the ground and turning back to the group. He signaled for them to take off, and they left to report back to Kamek.

Neither dinosaur altered their glare until there was a fair distance between them and their new enemies. Archie breathed a sigh of relief and patted his friend on the back. "Whew, nice work man, for a second there I thought we lost this guy." He smiled down at the baby, a little shocked and dirty, but unharmed. "Did you hear what he said?" Finn asked, still bitter at the confrontation. "They have this dude's brother! They wanna finish them both off... We hafta find him, Archie!" Archie didn t bother arguing, he too was disgusted at the idea of it. "Alright, let's head over the way they're going, he must be over that way somewhere." The red yoshi said definitively. Finn nodded and looked over to the horizon of the dark side of the island, he thought about the poor baby sitting alone there, in cold, dark, gloomy captivity. "Let's go, then!" He said, and they began their trek over the fields.


	13. Chapter 13

The Toadies arrived back at the castle some time later, meeting Kamek atop the highest turret from which they had departed. Kamek, who had seen them in the distance, stood before them patiently. "So, you return with news?" He asked bluntly. "Yes, sir." The leader replied in a simple tone. "Report." Bowser demanded short and sharp – the prince emerged from behind his guardians robes, looking rather tired as he was having trouble sleeping lately. The group bowed their heads silently. The scout that originally tried to take the baby stepped forth, dropping to his knees but keeping eye contact with his prince. "The red baby, he lives – we tried to take him, but he's under the watch of two yoshis, and we could not snatch it."  
"Where are they now?" The baby koopa grunted.  
"In the forest, at the edge of the meadows, I do not know where they plan on going."  
Bowser nodded, dismissing the minion. He turned and looked up at Kamek. "Papa, I want to know who these boys are." He then addressed the leader of the Toadies, "Contact the other parties and set them on their tail, send out the shy guys, too, I want the entire island under our control so we can find this kid." The toadies nodded, and took off to go about their business, leaving Kamek and Bowser alone.  
Kamek spoke gruffly, "Master, how do you hope to find out about these children? Surely you're not willing to review the ball?"  
Bowser sighed wearily. "If I must, Papa Kamek, then I will."  
Kamek thought. "Perhaps I can view my future in place of your own? I'm sure I will know of these men as you will." Bowser looked unsure, but Kamek was insistent. "You won't have to concern yourself with it, I'll find out about these people, you go and play." Bowser knew he wouldn't be able to remove the issue from his mind, and distracting himself with toys and stories did nothing.  
"I want to see it for myself…" There was a hint of unease in the child's voice as he spoke these last words, but the wizard knew there was no deterring him.  
"Very well, you have that right, my prince. If you wish, I can ready the ball tomorrow, but I think now you just need a break – maybe go play with your friend? I hear he came back from his little trip earlier today."  
Bowser nodded, turned and moved through the open door back down into the castle. He wandered through the massive corridor, his footsteps echoing loudly and eerily in the dim hall. Bowser wondered why the castle looked so dark even in the middle of the day, and concluded that the wind in the area was too bad for many windows – which he thought a shame considering how bright and warm the midday sun was on even the dark parts of the island. Lost in his curious thought, he stumbled into a young bob-omb making its way around. The small child fell over backward, rubbing his eyes and looking up at Bowser, having expected the impact no more than the koopa had. They stared blankly for a moment, each watching the other awkwardly. Bowser smiled as he quickly recognised the baby bomb.  
"Bob-o!" He helped his friend up happily, "Kamek said you came back today!"  
Little Bob-o was a child bob-omb that had grown up with Bowser, he was very small for his age, not to mention that Bowser had a few years on him and was much bigger – it was needless to say they made an unlikely-looking couple. He, like most others of his kind, had small orange limbs, and a hard, shiny black body: however oddly enough he was yet to sprout a fuse. Now on his feet and brushing himself off – Bob-o looked up at Bowser joyfully, youthful excitement rebuilding in the both of them. "Yeah, I just unpacked then and I got over here as soon as I could! I was looking around for you…Where have you been?"  
"Just up on the roof, taking care of some business." The little koopa explained casually, trying to change the topic quickly. "How was the mainland? How was your family?" Bowser wanted to hear all about his friend's travels, he had little memory of the mainland at all.  
The bob-omb rolled his beady white eyes, pouting as only a child can. "Boring as! There was only one other kid there and he was WAY older than me, I had nobody to play with for the whole week!"  
Bowser nodded. "Yeah, I was kinda the same…" His whole being seemed to slow as he recalled the past few days – the magic ball incident that had been endlessly replaying in his mind.  
Seeing this change of tone, Bob-o grew curious. "Anything happen while I was gone?" He innocently inquired.  
"Eh, I don't really feel like talking about it now," Bowser shook himself awake, changing back into his happier state, "Wanna go play something?"  
"Sure!"  
Bowser led the way into his room where he grabbed his basketball before running outside. The little prince was glad to have some kind of distraction from the red and green babies before tomorrow. He slept well that night where otherwise he would have sat awake in angst, but Kamek felt terrible, knowing that tomorrow would bring a rude awakening.


	14. Chapter 14

Finn and Archie were marching over the fields of vibrant flowers feeling almost oddly upbeat – perhaps it was the idea of exploration, the discovery of a new land – after all, they had only just become travelers, and there was much to see out in the world. The sky blue yoshi cradled the baby in his arms, holding it in front to see the world around. And see the world it did – the child was even more curious than before, turning his head to take in every sight and sound of the beautiful meadow. This was the kind of area that enhanced one's sense of play and wonder – the butterflies merrily fluttering from flower to flower, the soft yellow grass padding out the ground beneath them, and the bright green pipes and small trees protruding from the earth, decorating the plain before them.

At about noon, the pair decided to take a break from the long walk so that the baby could stretch its legs, and they could rest theirs. Looking back, they had come quite some way – but there was much more ground to cover, some hills and ditches, and many pipes, but overall their passage would be an easy one. Of course, Finn was the only one making these observations, as Archie was caring for the bouncing bundle of easily excitable energy, which unsurprisingly wanted to explore the area and uncover each secret held within it.

"So, Arch, reckon we get back on the road for a bit longer before calling it a day?" The dinosaur called from some distance. "This prairie is pretty big and I don't wanna stay here for too long." There was little shelter or food source to be found on such terrain, which concerned Finn.

"Yeah, okay dude, we'll see how long we can hold out until it gets dark." Archie shouted back, already occupied with the difficult task of keeping the baby in the one place. "And where are we supposed to find something to eat? I'm starving."

"I know, me too. There might not be much to eat until we get to those trees way over the other side." Finn stared at the opposite edge of the grassland: how long would it be? A few days, maybe? He couldn't judge. He sighed heavily and stretched, leaning back against the tree to enjoy the midday sun. Archie brought the baby over and sat beside him – he too, needed to recuperate. They sat for a few minutes, talking amongst themselves and entertaining the child, before they rose to their feet again and started moving on.

The journey was still pleasant, and the weather was cooler. Archie was fortunate that the baby was calmer and easier to carry at this end of the day, which meant he could walk a little faster than Finn had been when he was wrestling with the kid earlier. Eventually they reached the pipes that they had seen ahead, and the little blue yoshi couldn't help but stop to look in one of them.

"I never seen these around." He commented curiously, as he dipped his head into the cool shadows of the tube. Archie was also intrigued by the new surroundings, but didn't like sticking his nose directly into things just to find out what they were. "I know, man, but seriously we gotta cover some ground before it gets late, get yourself outta that pipe and lets go." He had started walking ahead of his friend as if to pressure him on, but this effort was fruitless as the yoshi was completely distracted. Perhaps if Finn had exercised some level of restraint or caution in regard to the pipes, he could have prevented the following events. But unfortunately, Finn's face was not the only thing in the pipes – there were some very short-tempered plants inhabiting them as well.

Seconds after Archie's warning, a circle of serrated, blade-like teeth sprang out from the depths of the earthen tube and clamped around whatever it first found. "YEEOWCH!" A very sorry-sounding Finn screeched out in pain, holding one hand to a throbbing, swollen nose.

The jaws released and he fell backward. He scrambled hurriedly away from the pipe, which now presented a fully mature piranha plant – and an angry one at that. It had no eyes, but an enormous mouth, hanging open at the all-too-tempting smell of fresh meat. Archie stopped and looked back to see the monstrous vegetation confront Finn. It snapped ferociously with its massive jaws, drooling hungrily. Its large, rough leaves rapidly flashed and ruffled in an attempt to confuse and intimidate the soon-to-be prey. Suddenly, it lobbed its massive head toward the blue yoshi. Archie rammed the monster and dazed it for a moment, the two barely managed to escape the range of its long, spiky stem. Held back like a mad dog, frantically fighting against its tether, it snapped angrily and thrashed wildly at the duo, only a few feet away.

"Phew, that was close!" Archie breathed heavily, trying to calm himself. "I've seen piranha plants before, but not that ones big."

"That's because you eat them before they grow that big." Finn commented – it was true, the yoshi clan effectively trimmed back piranha plants that lived in their woods. Recollecting himself, he stood up tall and surveyed the area – there were more plants protruding from the gathering of pipes ahead, clearly the raucous incident had disturbed some kind of mass hibernation. A knot wrenched up in his gut and he stood stock-still: they would have to find a way through those plants and he knew it – this would be no small task. Suddenly, the knot grew tighter and his eyes widened as another realization hit him…


	15. Chapter 15

"Archie…" He began uneasily, "… Where's the kid?" Archie froze, in that moment, he had completely forgotten about the baby, he must have dropped it before dashing to help Finn.

"Oh crud," The red yoshi said finally, heart racing again, "I put him down, he was just there before." Archie pointed at the place he had been before the plant distracted them. At first, neither of them saw him, but as their sights slowly scanned upward, they saw the baby crawling right into the maze of pipes. Without hesitation, they both sprung into a mad race to retrieve the baby. Finn got there first, and effectively tackled the kid on contact. A particularly large plant cracked his jaws down on the space where the baby had just been moments before. He scooped him up off the ground, smiling with a weary relief, then got to his feet and handed the little boy to his friend. Archie took the baby and looked down at it blankly, the shock still wearing off. Archie sat as far from any plants as he could – eyeing them warily – while Finn stood scoping the area, analysing their predicament. What were they going to do now? There had to be some way through… Finally, once sure of his decision, the contemplative dinosaur spoke.

"Alright, I think I got this down." He said decisively, going back over his idea. "I'll lead the way, I'm faster so if I make a wrong move I can dodge those plants better, then you follow me with the baby, so he'll be safer."

Archie nodded hesitantly - he didn't really want to do this. "Are you sure?" He asked shakily.

"Sure as I can be about this kinda thing, it's safer for the kid, and probably us, too – you can always hit one of those things if they get too close, right? You're pretty good at knocking the down, so if you watch my back and I watch what's ahead, we should be okay."

Archie ran his hands over his head with some sort of tense frustration, looking down, he paused oddly as he tried to compose himself. "Uh, okay," He sighed, then spoke quietly, "Lead the way, then."

Finn took a deep breath and began to tiptoe past some of the still sleeping plants, while others he simply had to distance himself from. Archie followed carefully, crouching and holding the baby close, so that he could drop it swiftly and safely in case one of the piranhas snapped. The noise had aroused them, and now the smell of new prey left them hanging in anticipation. They loomed over the trio, knowing that they could not reach them, but simply waiting for an opportunity. The sounds of soft growling and a damp, earthy smell haunted the passage, causing the yoshis to feel claustrophobic. The tense atmosphere was even enough to keep the baby quiet. It took some time, but eventually they began to make some progress, keeping as far away from the vicious plants as they could without any real hassle – but there was a point where Finn had to stop short. A massive cluster of plants, all very close together, guarded the path ahead. They seemed to be smirking, knowing what was going on without having to see. Archie gingerly peered in front of his fellow, and saw the cause for delay. He gulped, he knew this next maneuver would be a close shave off their heads – either that or an outright decapitation.

"Maybe we should just try and sneak past?" Archie suggested, his voice wavering.

Finn shook his head. "Nah, they're too alert, they know where we are."

"What then? Distract them?"

Finn shrugged, "Could work."

Archie looked around for something to avert the plants' attention, he happened across a hefty rock. Then he saw a flock of birds some distance away. Before thinking, he picked up the stone and lobbed it toward the birds so as to scatter them. As the stone hit the ground with a resounding thud, the flock spread out in all directions in a panicked frenzy, distracting all the plants. The piranha plants instantly began to lunge and flail at the movement, stirring up the birds into more directionless insanity. Archie tapped Finn's saddle as he passed, whispering hastily: "Run! They won't be distracted for long!"

Both bolted, splitting up, thinking of nothing but moving forward. They ducked and dived, a few plants had started to regain focus and began snapping hastily at the passing blue and red blurs. Finn could almost see the end of the pipe cluster, he dodged and weaved with all his concentration. He continued running at full steam, swerving insanely, ducking at sudden points and on the rare occasion, even having to jump over an obstacle. Archie kept as far from the plants as he could, not confident enough with speed alone. At a few points, one of the plants would slam its skull in front of him, trying to trip him. He had responded not with a swerve, but used the head as a makeshift springboard. This propelled him forward further and moved him much faster than his own two feet, possibly even halving his run time.

Finn saw clear land ahead, and with his head down and eyes focused, he raced on. But his eyes widened as he saw a massive ditch blocking the way to safety. Still he kept running, he was going too fast at this point to stop. Reaching the edge of the gap, he closed his eyes tight and jumped as best he could, kicking his feet behind him to get that little bit more distance.

Hitting the ground hard, he pushed up and attempted to stand, still having to be aware of any new dangers that may present themselves. Finn tried to regain control over his breathing and rapid heart rate, but failed. He simply fell to his knees and continued drawing in air. Then he suddenly turned as he remembered Archie – looking all around, he finally saw him in the sea of red, white and green. He jumped back up and waved his arms. "Archie! Over here, buddy!"

The red yoshi saw his friend and started running toward him, then Finn saw him head for the gap. Finn cupped his hands to his mouth and quickly shouted out to him; "Watch out for that gap, dude! You'll have to jump!"Archie looked ahead and saw the gap. "Oh man…" He stared blankly at the massive hole in the ground. Suddenly a piranha plant's head slammed down in front of him, pulling him out of his brief trance with an unsettling 'WHACK'.

"Whoa!" He cried out as he jumped to dodge the plant. He bounced off the top of its head, pushing as hard as he could. Finn watched him soar over the gap, clearing it smoothly and touching down, still running. He slowed his momentum by breaking into a roll, then once stopped, crawled back to where Finn was now sitting. He collapsed onto his back, the baby still firm in his grasp. He coughed hoarsely and gulped down air, his heart showing no sign of slowing. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "So, we made it, Finny?" Finn leant down and grabbed the baby, still quiet, from his friend's shaking hands. "Yeah dude… we're safe."

The pair sat for some while just trying to slow themselves back down – their lungs burned, their legs stung, and their bodies pulsed with the exertion.


	16. Chapter 16

It was a long time before either yoshi moved, both were fully content with no more than the simple rise and fall of their own chests they were rather lucky to still be alive. Finn knew he d been phasing in and out of full consciousness, possibly a combined result of low blood sugar and over-exertion. At his side he could feel the warmth of the child, curled up against him, sleeping soundly. The sky above had dimmed into a darker shade of blue while a glance of pink on the western horizon glowed, indicating the fallen sun. The moon had only just begun to pierce the darkening sky, where no stars had yet appeared. He breathed deep - the air was cooled and distilled, and the world had grown silent.

Ever so slowly, shaking with fatigue as he did so, Finn pushed himself up from the grass and sat. He blinked and rubbed his head gingerly, trying to clear his vision, and then made to look around. Archie was still beside him, though Finn failed to determine whether his friend was unconscious or asleep. He put his hand at the baby's shoulder and squeezed it gently, allowing it to wake. Then, finally standing, he walked quietly to where Archie lay and grabbed his forearm. "Archie, buddy, are you alright?" He asked softly, voicing his concerns. The red yoshi responded with an unintelligible grunt, and rolled to face his back to whatever had disturbed him._ Asleep. Definitely asleep._ Finn thought reassuringly. "Come one, guy, we have to move."

Archie began muttering incoherently. "Not now mum, a few more minutes, okay?"

Finn rolled his eyes and kicked Archie's shell. "Get up, man!" Archie immediately jolted awake and sat up, looking around and finally turning behind him to see his two companions. "Hey!" He said, eyeing Finn in a tired and now rather irritated manner. "D'you mind?"

"Not at all." Finn smiled, and started to walk off. Archie grumbled some more and got up, shuffling and dragging his feet until he came up alongside the other yoshi. "So," he began, looking at Finn, "I take it we were out for a while?"

Finn nodded softly. "Yeah, I gotta say that was a pretty nasty corner we got ourselves into back there."

Archie laughed a little. "You mean that _you_ got us into? This whole travelling thing's gonna be a right mess if you keep that stuff up." "I guess so, but you certainly did a job getting us back out - that diversion worked brilliantly."

"It could have gone better, I ll leave it at that." He sighed wearily.

"Well, it went well enough." Finn smiled at Archie.

As they walked, the space around them began to show signs of hard use - soft grass had been trampled and paths had been formed, and there was not so much of a clarity in the smell of the air. The yoshis detected smoke amongst other unusual scents that they failed to identify. The three started to follow one of the wider tracks, which eventually came to a large circle of stamped-out grass, as though a crowd had once stood there. There was a pipe in the middle of the area, which seemed to be the emanation of the smells. Finn took a step forward to look into the pipe, Archie put his hand out to stop him.

"Finn, remember what happened last time? You can't have forgotten already."

Finn paused. "But there's no earthy smell, haven't you noticed? This pipe is different somehow."

"Alright," Archie began with a resigned tone, "Just let me hold the baby, alright?"

Finn turned and handed the child to Archie and then, without looking back, without saying another word, Finn tiptoed over to the pipe. The air remained unchanging, but somehow there was a more unnatural feel to the stillness. As Finn cautiously looked into the pipe, he noted a dull glow within it - not at all like the condemning darkness of the other pipes this one seemed to go right down, deep underground, and there as something down there. He looked deeper into the pipe, as if to uncover anything that the dark could possibly be concealing, scrutinizing it suspiciously - but nothing changed, the light still loomed at the bottom of the pipe, patient and alluring.

Archie, who had slowly come up behind Finn, stood beside him and looked into the pipe as well. "What is it?" He asked innocently.

"I have no idea, but if there's light, maybe someone's down there." He replied, his gaze fixed on the deep, metallic well.

The red yoshi looked over to his friend, eyes slightly wider, "You can't be serious - you're actually thinking of going down there, aren't you?"

"Well what if someone is down there? Suppose they could help us, suppose they might need help themselves." Finn looked over to Archie. "Besides, we need shelter, don't we?"

"We don't need shelter that we can't get out of - there's no way we could get back up that pipe, especially not with the kid."

"Remember when the elders told us about the crystal caverns that lay under the fields? The underground stretches right across this meadow, there'll be other ways out."

Archie shook his head. "I don t know about this, Finn."

Finn smirked, "Sounds to me like you just indirectly accepted we're about to do this." He said with a raised brow. "So be it, then." Before his friend could respond, he climbed into the pipe and dropped down. Archie just looked, dumbstruck, watching Finn's descent. He eventually landed - Archie heard a splash, at least, and so assumed Finn had landed - in some body of water.

"Hey, there's water down here!" Finn called up the pipe.

"So I'd gathered, you crazy, stunt-bent idiot - what kind of death wish do you have, anyway?" Archie's relief for his friend was masked by his anger at Finn's stupidity. Archie received no response to his remark, and so resumed the conversation. "Before I come down there, is there a way out that you can see?"

"It's massive down here, there's pipes and stuff everywhere, even plants!"

Archie knew that this was about as direct an answer as he would get. And so, having now given up dealing with Finn, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath and jumped into the pipe.


	17. Chapter 17

Archie landed in the water with a massive crash – the kind that was too loud to be considered a regular splash by any means. Finn covered his face as the spray from the impact rained back down onto him, and seconds later, Archie resurfaced. He held the infant above the newly formed waves, cringing as it screamed in detest. Finn picked the child from Archie's hands and paddled to the edge of the underground pool, then sat with it and tried to calm it. "Did I ever mention he doesn't like water?" The red yoshi shouted after them as he waded over. Finn picked up the boy, hugging him and trying to warm him – he rocked back in forth so as to calm it a little.

Archie knelt in front of the baby and looked at him patiently, waiting for the baby to notice him; he eventually saw Archie and his cries quietened to an inaudible sob. He set his big, wet eyes on Archie, his attention fixed. "It's okay, little guy – come one, shake off, like this…" The yoshi shook his head briskly, flicking water droplets everywhere - he made an odd sound as he did so. "… Brrrrrrr, like this, see?"

The baby giggled, mouth open in a broad, toothless grin. He copied the action in amusement. "BRRRRRRRR, BRRRR BRRRRR!" The child laughed, shaking his head more and more.

Finn looked to Archie as the baby continued to laugh. "You're damn good, Arch." He smiled, genuinely impressed.

Archie shrugged. "Thanks. Well, in any case, we should go have a look around down here – we found some pretty alright shelter, so how about something to eat?"

"Right." Finn said, suddenly sitting up. "Let's do this then." He lifted the baby and formed a cradle with his arms, then stood. The pair climbed the embankment, and looked around – the cave was unimaginably expansive, beyond what any of the three of them could have expected. The ground before them was dotted with gigantic, splotched, and pale mushrooms that reached far and high, held aloft upon spindly – yet solid – stalks. The caves themselves were entirely crystalline, every surface sparkled with a brilliant deep shade of silver. Water droplets echoed as they fell from glassy stalactites, far away in the shadows, chiming like mystic, otherworldly bells. It was amazing that there were even any shadows, as there seemed to be no specific light source. The yoshis gaped in silent awe and the baby muttered in youthful wonderment as they traversed the hollow space before them. As they passed one of the taller mushrooms, Archie caught the strong smell of something sweet. He stopped abruptly, raising his nose and moving it around so as to track the source of the scent. Finn turned back and watched.

"Hey dude… Dude, are you getting this?" Archie said softly, concentrating hard on locating the mysterious odour.

Finn paused and sniffed. "Yeah… yeah I kind of am – but I can't pick where it's coming from."

"I can, it's over there," his head tilted as he spoke, "It's hidden underneath something, I think." Archie followed his nose to a pile of cave rocks a few yards away, and started digging. He only had to push aside a small layer of shiny stone before a large pile of dried berries presented themselves. Archie grinned back at Finn. "Sweet!"

Finn flashed a smile, but quickly it turned to an expression of contemplation, even concern. Archie paused as he saw Finn's face change. "What's wrong?"

"Think, Archie – why would these berries be down here? It's funny, don't you think? They're from the surface, so somebody must have stored them here." Archie nodded briefly. "Good point, but as far as I see we're alone, maybe they left a while ago – the berries _are_ pretty dry."

There was a pause.

"Alright." Finn said after some thought. Archie grabbed a handful of the shriveled berries and handed one to the baby, before putting the rest in his mouth and chewing. The red dinosaur flinched and made a face at the taste. "… Kinda tart." He said amidst chewing. "Uh-huh." Finn agreed as he tasted a berry for himself. The baby screwed up his face as soon as he bit into the berry . "Yuck!" He declared bluntly.

"Yeah, we know, kid," Finn said with distaste, "But it's all we've got down here."

Archie grabbed and armful of the berries and looked back at the water they'd landed in. "You know, I think we'll need some water to wash this stuff down, considering how dry it is."

Finn shrugged. "We need water anyway – the baby's not gonna stay clean for long."

Archie laughed, and they walked back to the edge of the pool, planning to set up camp there for the evening.


	18. Chapter 18

Again, on the dark side of the isle, Bowser was at the crystal ball with Kamek. He stood stiff, seemingly without hesitation, but he had his doubts. The old wizard had been speaking with him about the dangers of him seeing too much of his future, but Kamek knew the damage had been done – better he be involved and have control over his future.

"Alright, young master, try to focus on how these two men came to meet you, the more we know of them, the better. You remember what to do?"

Bowser nodded and obediently put his claw to the ball. Again, he closed his eyes and relaxed as the cool stone swirled and its energy matched his own. This time he could feel it read him, he felt the urge to focus on something as though the ball was asking him for what he wanted. He closed his eyes tighter as he thought hard about the red and green men, especially the red one – there was something about the fire in that one's eyes that really unsettled him, he thought there was something special about that-

"Prince, it's working. Open your eyes now."

His concentration was broken by the soft voice of his guardian. He did as he was bid, focusing on the two men now reflected in the orb, just as he had pictured them moments before. They were standing out in a green field with a young, lively Toad and a fair-haired human female – apparently of royal status.

"That's the Mushroom Kingdom…" Bowser said with interest, "… I recognise it – the Toadstool family rules there."

He could hear the Toad talking in an animated voice to the two men, surely enough his voice was distorted through the artefact, but he could make out the words well enough.

"Mario! Luigi! You've saved us again, and now we're free from the koopas!" The little mushroom man cried happily.

The human woman beside him nodded and smiled. "Yes, thank you once again - our kingdom is in your debt"

"So, they are warriors of the Mushroom Kingdom…" Kamek muttered, "Mario... and Luigi…"

Little Bowser took his claw back away from the magical artefact, thinking. "So we got Luigi – that's the green one, right? I saw the 'L' on his hat."

Kamek nodded. "It would seem so, master, now we have to catch the other one – I'll look into this some more and contact the shy guys to notify them of any useful information. You should probably go."

The koopa got up from the floor and bid his mentor farewell. He wandered down the corridors in thought, looking about the cold grey stone. His friend, Bob-o wasn't at the castle today, so he decided to pay his prisoner a visit – he'd be thinking about the boy anyway, as he was curious about the human. The stairs began to spiral tighter as the air grew colder; he had soon reached the deeper, darker part of the castle. The cold of the stone steps sent chills all through him, and the burning orange lamplight on the wall offered some light, but no warmth.

The dungeon was one massive room, with rusted iron bars rowed up to make cells. A wet, earthy stench filled the place – and something could be heard scuttling about, somewhere in the darkness. Water dripped in the stillness of the dank room, an open space so tightly sealed with worn metal and chiselled stone. Little Bowser reached up for a light to carry – having to jump a bit to grasp it properly – and then started walking to the cell where he and Kamek had put Luigi. _Luigi_, he thought to himself, _what a strange name_. The koopa boy's feet clapped against the ground, easily catching the other baby's attention. He – the human – had been sitting in shock for a long time, his senses heightened by the eerie dungeon atmosphere. When Bowser got close with the light, baby Luigi flinched and looked away. The koopa sat and stared at the strange pink infant, and after its eyes had adjusted to the light, it stared back. Bowser looked into Luigi's big, dark eyes, and tried to read them. He was scared; that much was plain – the first thing Bowser saw in the child was that same fear on the night that Kamek brought him home. But now, the stare was more intense – there were needs as well as fear. Hunger, loneliness, confusion, exhaustion, coldness: he looked like a frightened animal.

"Hey." Bowser said, short and flat.

Luigi moved again – barely a twitch – then seemed to pay even more intense attention to Bowser, though the koopa remained under silent scrutiny

"What's the matter? Don't you know how to talk?"

Luigi blinked.

"Oh, uh... okay..."

_Well, this is going nowhere... Who is this guy, anyway? He couldn't possibly be strong enough to fight me – how is he even a threat?_

"So... you're this Luigi guy."

The name seemed to mean something to the child – he perked up and sat a little straighter – to Bowser's mild amusement. The human child then leant closer to the bars that separated the two youngsters, putting his hands through the bars. Bowser reached out as well, slowly, at first.

At the feel of the cold, soft pink skin, he jerked his hand back hard: this retraction is natural for someone coming into contact with something so strange. The initial emotions are instinctive for anyone – caution, concern, even panic – the little prince went through all of this. From then, a response is formulated, relative to the individual. In a young, inexperienced, and even threatened child's mind, the difference is often received as a danger – as was the case for Bowser.

"This isn't right, I shouldn't be doing this, you're an enemy to me!"

Bowser jumped back in a sudden change of tone; so did young Luigi. Both of them had fright in their eyes now. The last few days had taught the prince that humans – particularly this one – weren't safe to be around. He had been curious, yes, but he then realised that he was stupid in being so. This was an adversary, that one day might end him: he shouldn't be making friends with it.

A few more seconds passed in silence, with the koopa's mind racing, and his little heart pounding in his chest.

"I have to go." He said. Not knowing what else to do, he promptly followed through on such.


	19. Chapter 19

There was no telling what time it was when Finn woke up since the night had presumably passed, neither light nor temperature in the cave had actually changed. Without the usual pressure of the advancing day, the blue yoshi took his time in waking up and then went down to the pool to clear his head. The water was cool and fresh, like always, though Finn missed the gentle current and breeze of his home grounds. The ambience was in many ways much like a forest. There were crystal chimes instead of birds, and water trickled rather than whooshed; but nevertheless, the world was indeed not unlike any other large and lively domain, regardless of such isolation. Archie woke up soon after, and this time he had the time to wake up more comfortably. By the time the red yoshi was up, his comrade was off exploring their surroundings. He got up, still a little drowsy maybe it was the strain of yesterday catching up on him, and he couldn't help but feel a little heavier than usual - he was even hunched over a bit.

Soon enough, Archie had caught up with his friend. "Big surprise, that one." He said.

"What?" Finn asked with surprise, having been totally preoccupied with an oddly-coloured mushroom.

"You. Up and about, like always." Archie yawned and rubbed his eyes. "Man, my back feels really weird, I think I did something to it yesterday..."

Finn blinked. "Wait on... what's that?" Finn pointed behind Archie, having seen something on his back. Archie mistook this and immediately turned to face the other way, suddenly concerned that someone was following him.

"What? What is it? What did you see?" Archie asked confusedly. Finn immediately saw the problem: the baby was sitting on his back, and must have been riding around on him.

"Archie, no wonder your back feels weird!" Finn pulled the baby off Archie's back, and Archie looked around in confusion when the weight was alleviated, then turned and saw the kid. "Oh man, I was wondering where he was!"

Finn was smiling with an air of humour. "The little guy must have climbed on while you were dozing around."

The red yoshi twisted and stretched out his back with relief as the small child, now in Finn's arms, giggled and squealed and reached out to grab at Archie's shell; or _saddle_, as it were - it looked like it wanted to get back on.

"Aww, he really does like you." Finn chuckled.

Archie rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well he can put up with you for a while, _I_ need some food. Archie tended to dismiss things as being cute if they kept him from his breakfast.

"I've been looking for something to eat all morning, Arch: no luck. We'll have to and find some food some other place." Finn knew that they'd have to look hard for food in the caves - but he wasn't too phased by it. Archie, on the other hand, groaned with irritation. Finn ignored him.

"Look, I'll take the kid until we can sit down and eat. I found a tunnel off that way, and I heard some noise coming from there earlier today... maybe someone else is down here?"

The red yoshi nodded. "Sounds good, let's go find em!"


	20. Chapter 20

Archie led the way through the passage; it wasn't cramped enough to be called a proper tunnel, it felt more like a path through thick trees – except there was rock instead of trees, making it a little more claustrophobic. Finn had decided to try Archie's 'method' of carrying the baby – piggyback style – since it left his arms free in case he needed them.

The passage went upwards, which was about as much as they could have determined. Even an expert cartographer or traveler would have trouble with direction in such caves: it was like a 3D maze of pipes without noticeable corners or any indication of land-marking. Finn was concerned that there might be less water uphill, but it might mean that they reached the surface, too. They came up to another clearing, slightly larger than the first, and almost totally covered in giant mushrooms. The tunnel where the yoshis stood opened onto a ledge that was above the ground by about 4 _yoshis_ tall. Most of the mushrooms were about that height, too.

"Whoa, check it, Finny! That's gotta be, what, 3 or 4 heights?" Archie was apparently impressed at the drop down to the cave floor.

"Just about." Finn said inquisitively. "These mushroom things are really weird… Hey, watch your step, okay?" The blue yoshi had already noticed that there was no way to go but across the mushroom tops – there was a path on the other side of the room.

Archie nodded, and stepped onto the first mushroom carefully – it pressed down a little under his weight, but stayed steady. Finn followed soon after, looking about rather curiously at the path before him: the baby was also quite interested with the new surface. They were about halfway around the 'room' when Archie stopped to look down at the clearing in the middle of the mushrooms – Finn stopped soon after; never one to miss out on exploration.

There was a camp set up in the clearing, with a few small tents, a fire, and a bunch of odd-looking short people in robes. A few of them were different colours, but they all had the same white mask over their faces.

"Hey! What're those things?" Archie asked with suspicion. "Funny looking, huh?"

Finn looked down with intrigue. "I dunno, maybe they're native to the caves – I've never seen one on the surface… do you think they're friendly?" He turned to his friend.

"Pssht, like I'd know – hey, wait, you don't mean…" Archie was soon in a state of concern; Finn's curiosity was a dangerous thing, and these new guys didn't look like something to try their luck with. "There's an awful lot of them, Finny… " Archie warned.

Suddenly, a yellow masked guy spoke, breaking up the conversation between the yoshis. It was pacing in front of the rest of the group, who were ordered in a stiff, straight, line, standing at attention. "All right, Shy-Guys, stand at attention!" It barked its commands in a deep, cold, growling voice; sounding more like an ill-tempered beast than a military leader. "We've been given orders from Master Kamek to retrieve this human infant. We are to bring him back alive: **no questions asked.** Toadies report that the thing is under the protection of two yoshis… _they_ do not need to be kept alive. The thing is small and pink, and wearing some kind of red hat… thing. Its name is Mario, and it is imperative that we find it, capture it, and take it to Prince Bowser – now move out, guys! We'll start searching on the surface!" It pointed up to a pipe that was protruding from the ceiling, the others saw it and understood well.

"**Sir, yes sir!**" They bellowed in unison.

Up on the mushrooms, Finn and Archie had been listening in – leaning over the edge of the platforms in anticipation.

"Hey, that's us!" Archie whispered.

"Yeah, they want the kid too – they work for the same guy as those Toadies." Finn started to get a cold edge to his voice; he was beginning to dislike this so-called Prince Bowser.

At that very moment, Finn leant a little too far and fell head-first into the meeting, closely followed by Archie.

***THWUMP***

"Yeow! Jeez!" Archie shouted out, clamping his beaten jaw with his hands while Finn dashed around to see if the child was okay.

The whole troop of shy-guys turned and saw them: and they saw Baby Mario sitting on top of them both.

"What in the name of…" The big yellow shy-guy started out in shock, "Guys, that's them! Get the child!"

Within a split second, a whole platoon of shy-guys was on top of the yoshis. Finn quickly grabbed the child and started to run, and soon the chase was on.


	21. Chapter 21

One of the 'guys went for Finn, and Archie followed in defense – at which point half of the platoon trumped on top of Archie. Finn had just about gotten away when he heard his friend cry out. "Get off me, you little twirps!" The red yoshi shouted in some frustration.

Seeing that his friend was in trouble, Finn doubled-back toward the small army. At a loss as to how to counter them, he simply bowled right in and knocked them apart – and consequently off of the struggling red yoshi. Archie swung around with a vengeful punch at the nearest guy, knocking him back into a few others and momentarily dazing the small group. Another few leapt onto Finn and grappled with him – while one shy-guy wrestled the baby off Finn's back. Archie had just managed to clean his friend of soldiers when Finn caught sight of the lone guy's attempt to escape with the scrabbling infant. Something akin to rage bubbled up inside the blue dinosaur. "Oh no you don't!" he shouted angrily, before pursuing, tackling and nearly mangling the shy-guy before it released the child. Finn, having recovered the boy, just sat happily and hugged it.

"Uh, I'm glad you've gotten in touch with your _maternal instincts_, dude…" Archie interjected from a short way off: he was surrounded. "But do you think we could save cuddle-time for later, Finny, old pal?"

Finn jumped back up with surprise – the whole platoon was now surrounding Archie, and Finn would not be able to fight them all off at once… he started to back off, looking around panicked, and analyzing the situation – surely he could do something to-

-That was the point it hit him – quite literally – as his backward wandering had caused him to trip over what appeared to be a pile of bricks. He stumbled and landed on his back, almost dropping the infant, and cursed angrily. When he looked down at the block-pile, it was clear that he had kicked one rather hard and that it was _somehow_ reacting. One of the old earthen blocks shifted and rattled, and then sort of… _produced_ another object… It was as though it was suddenly ejecting the thing: a golden, shimmering, 5-point star with a bold yellow glow about it. Finn was momentarily mesmerized, and leant down as if to touch it.

Archie's calls for help dragged him back to reality yet again, as the poor yoshi was pulled under with the full force of a complete shy-guy squad. Finn dropped the baby and ran to help his friend, leaving the child in the big mess of brickwork… and alone with the shining object that had emerged from the very face of the block.

Anyone with the understanding of a child's mind could have predicted what happened. To Finn and Archie, though - who were far from successful parents - it was not fully understandable how the baby 'knew' what to do. All that they understood was that one moment they were brawling shy-guys; and the next, the shy-guys had been lobbed halfway across the cavern. It took a few moments for them to absorb and process what had fully happened, but eventually, it hit home: the baby had evidentially absorbed whatever power the star possessed, and had taken some kind of _super_ form. It was quite hard explain: he was wearing a bright yellow cape and could suddenly run and jump like an expert tree-hopper, in a way that infants tend to be entirely incapable of. Under these circumstances, however, the child was bouncing from wall-to-wall, knocking back the soldiers with ease - far from incapable. He had easily diminished the entire squadron in only a few short moments. The team of guys evacuated into a nearby pipe, bruised and battered, shouting frustrated insults between intermittent outcries of pain.

Once the danger was gone, the baby stopped and stood, watching the pipe carefully, until his power drained. His cape came undone, he fell backward onto his behind, and – for all intents and purposes – seemed to have returned to normal. Archie slowly approached and picked the infant from the ground – it was happy as ever to see its red friend, grasping up at Archie with tiny hands and giggling. Archie, however, was a little shaken.

"Well that's not something you see every day." Finn said with an air of confusion. "Who'd have thought he could pull a trick like that – eh, Arch?"

Archie looked rather blankly at the child, still in disbelief. One question sat on his mind: "Where'd he get the cape?"

Finn shrugged. "Maybe the star-thing gave it to him? Well, it looks like we've got him a blanket now, at least." Finn let out a low whistle, followed by a deep breath in. "So… they called the little guy 'Mario'?"


	22. Chapter 22

As far as Bowser was concerned, the day was going well – Bob-O had come over to visit and they were building big castles with his brick blocks… well Bob-O was, anyway.

"You're gonna be king one day, so you'll have to build a big, important castle that can see over all your kingdom." The little black bomb said, nodding to Bowser's pile of bricks – the koopa had been building single-block towers and knocking them down, rather than working on an actual project.

Bowser shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so, but I dunno what I'd make it look like…"

"All big and important, just like you, Bowser! Oh, and you should make it really tall! So you can see all of your subjects from the very top!" The beady bomb said excitedly, pointing at his stack of blocks. "Like mine, see?"

Bowser looked at what his friend had made. "It looks like a mountain." He stated simply, not understanding.

Bob-O nodded. "The castle's inside the mountain, and it's got all these hidden defenses, see?" He pointed out each and every detail. "Cannons and things, plus there's a big spiral path up to the top – where I can see everything in my kingdom!"

"Oh, I see," Bowser nodded and smiled, "That's really clever! If I was gonna add defenses, I think I'd use a fence or a moat…"

The boys were cut off as a Troopa in apprentice robes – on of Kamek's students. "Master Bowser, sir," he knelt as he addressed the prince, "Kamek requests your presence. He says he's found an intruder of sorts."

Bowser's eyes widened – he had not dealt with an intruder before. His only captive until now had been the human; Luigi. He got to his feet, leaving his friend and game without a word. Concerned, the koopaling began considering his moat all the more intensely as he followed the apprentice through to the dungeons.

The wizard Kamek stood with a few burly guards, who were holding back the prisoner. At first, the Prince Bowser could not see 'his' captive, but as he grew closer, Kamek stepped aside quietly and the dim light revealed the stranger. It was a toad.

"Krush here found him snooping around the back of the castle." Kamek explained to Bowser – a little coldly, the boy thought. "He's from the Mushroom Military; we couldn't find any identification, but we can assume he's on a mission of espionage." The magikoopa turned back to the mushroom man. "Spying on your neighbors, huh?"

The stranger hung from the arms of his two massive guards, a small man with green spots on his cap. He seemed like a typical soldier – stubble, dogtags, muddy camouflage and a mean, contemptuous stare.

"The Yoshi tribes are our neighbors – you aren't! Our head mage suspected koopa activity on Yoshi's Island… I was just investigating; I certainly didn't anticipate stumbling into a base of operations like this."

"Are there more of you?" Bowser asked.

The soldier's face turned to the young koopa and softened a little. "Wouldn't be much good if I told you that, huh? Sorry kid."

The prince scrunched his face up and balled his fists. He didn't take kindly to being patronised. "I'm not a little kid, I'm Master Bowser – now tell me how many troops were sent in!"

The soldier shook his head, a smug superiority about him. "No can do, little buddy."

Bowser grumbled and growled petulantly. "Well then… I'll lock you up!"

"Sounds like a good idea, 'Master Bowser' – if I got out of here, then the Mushroom Kingdom would be on to you." The toad was talking calmly and positively as though he were teaching the child how to interrogate and imprison him, taking interest in whatever cruel fate he might provoke from the child.

Bowser stamped his foot. "Grr, that's it! I've had it with you! You're going to the dungeon, now! Chuck him in with the other one!"

That stopped the mushroom man in his tracks. "Wait, iothers!/i" Could some of his comrades have already been captured? Maybe the koopaling was playing mind games, too… or perhaps he's imprisoned some innocent yoshis – but nobody in the kingdom had received a distress signal…

It didn't matter, the young koopa boy whom had called himself 'Bowser' was long gone, and the guards were dragging him into the depths of the dungeon. He could see very little as his eyes adjusted, but from what his senses picked up, the place was empty.

He was shut into a big cell in the corner of the dungeons. The guards locked the door and left without bothering to speak with him. He got back up and ran to the door from where he'd been thrown, as something of a pursuit of his captors.

"Hey, shell-brains!" he shouted after the guards. "Didn't the kid say something about another prisoner?"

The demand for information was lost on ignorant ears, and the toad slumped in resignation against the bars. "Oh, man, this is confusing."


	23. Chapter 23

The toad sat for a good half hour in silence, leaning against the bars, looking about at his dank surroundings. It wasn't much as far as comfort went, and it could certainly do with some cleaning. Though the shadows obscured at least half of the cell, the soldier thought he saw something or someone outlined in the corner of the dungeon: this suspicion was confirmed as he saw it move. "Hello?" He called out softly into the dark, "Who's there?"

The figure stopped, as if paying attention. Then, after a short time, started moving again: toward the light, where the soldier sat. Scrutinizing the tiny form as it hobbled toward him, the toad soon realized it was a crawling infant. It was weak and young: far too young to be left down here alone. The soldier got to his knees and made to get closer to it, but it stopped as soon as he moved. They stared at eachother for a moment, before the toad resumed motion – slowly, this time. He made to put his hand on the baby's slim shoulder; and at his warm touch, the infant reached to hold his arm, quizzically prodding it and feeling its alien texture. This was a human baby, and presumably one whom had not seen a mushroom before: what was he doing in this dungeon? The Toad picked him up and covered the boy with his khaki vest to keep him warm.

"Just who're you, little guy?" He asked quietly. The baby stared at him in inquisitive response. He was caked in grime, and he stank, too. The mushroom man presumed he had been left here unattended for some time now. The hat it wore was a deep green, adorning a big 'L' on the front. It seemed to be significant, but of more immediate importance was the child's welfare.

The toad had some rations in his vest pocket, and so took out a nutrition bar to offer to the baby. It first took them in hand and felt it, weighted it – it was soft and malleable, and peaked the infant's curiosity.

"Yeah, I don't blame ya." The soldier chuckled. "It's nothing special – but it'll fill you up alright." He took a chunk from the bar and ate it, trying to convince the boy to do the same. Slowly and unsurely, the child put the food in his mouth and started chewing. He ate slowly, and with distaste, but didn't reject the free meal.

After the boy had finished eating, he started to grasp up at the other pockets in the vest. The toad laughed. "Sorry, buddy, I haven't got much else for you! They confiscated just about anything that I could use as a weapon or tool…" The child's fingers caught on a metal toad-tag around his neck. "Ah," The man smiled, "You like that?" The baby shook his hand and rattled the chain-link necklace.

He took it off and reconnected it into a loop for the child to play with. He rattled it and giggled, playing with the unique shape and being mesmerized by the sound. The chubby little fingers ran over the smooth engraving that read out the Mushroom's name and rank.

The soldier nodded to it. "Yep, that's me, alright – Edward Charles Toadsworth II… but call me Charlie."

The baby murmured and babbled. It didn't sound anything vaguely resembling 'Charlie', but it was a start.


End file.
